Friday, March 30, 2012

Its a gray wash~I wanted to make all the
baskets in my bathroom shelf look Belgian~

French Linen Chalk Paint® is what I used and a big paint brush.

This is the latest color I was dying to try~

and it works well on these baskets I am happy to say.

Don't load up the brush, apply it with a dry brush

and it is the easiest thing in the world!

I had all the baskets done in 15 minutes.

Have you noticed I like quick projects with big results?

The baskets have cotton duck liners and they
sit in this built in next to the commode.

Don't ask me why there is a built in right there~
maybe it was supposed to be a library!

However all the bathroom closets hold my clothing,
so the towels had to go here.

This was the way they looked when I bought them, in a dark brown finish.

Now they are all washed out in the Belgian finish.

They look a lot softer and go with the linen draperies.

This basket on the tub was the finish I was trying to copy,

and the French Linen paint is pretty close to perfect.

One of the things I am working on is a new vanity skirt~

I ordered the toile,

but the pink is wrong and its just too much pink...

The tiny french print on the right looks pretty

with the walls and the gold and the austrian valance~

the one on the left is very elegant and monochromatic...

but I might just go with something else...

While that is percolating in my brain,

I turned to waxing of the bathroom cabinet.

The base coat is Antoinette Chalk Paint®,

so I need to apply wax to seal the cabinets.
I am trying out the Minwax brand

of paste wax as it is easier to find at the local store and cheaper too.

I splurged on an Annie Sloan wax brush and it was lovely to use.

This brush is dedicated for clear wax only. You can't get the dark

wax out of your brush, so since I will use a clear wax more

often and over greater surfaces like kitchen and bath cabinets,

I want my big fancy wax brush to be my clear wax brush.

I used a cloth for the dark wax application.

First I applied the paste wax to all the cabinets

and after that I put on the dark wax.
This brand of paste wax is a harder wax than the Annie Sloan™
clear wax, which is way easier to apply. You can use either,
and I was curious to try this one, however I can see
that I will go back to the softer easier wax after this project.

Now for the dark wax~
See the splotches? I dot it on and
then rub it into the pale pink areas~

You can do this with any drapery panel you already have~here is how to turn it into an Austrian valance.

That means its stationary, it won't be going up and down...that would be an Austrian Shade. This valance is a fussy treatment that usually is quite expensive to have made...so pay attention if you would like one on a dime. Get some shirring tape with two rows of string in the tape. Cut your drapery panel to be 3x the finished length of what you want your valance to be. The width of this fits my window as I want to have floppy ends and I plan to staple the extra width around the sides of the mounting board. If this sounds too hard, just look at the pictures and you will see what I mean.

The shirring tape that you will cut and pin to your fabric,

leaving a bit to hang over the edge of the fabric.

You can get this tape at most fabric stores.

Stitch it down on the outside of each side of the tape (so two rows of stitching). I am going to have two swoops so I have three rows. You could do four rows and have 3 swoops, or 2 rows of tape for one swoop~your choice! I plan to add the moss fringe along the bottom when I am done to jazz it up.

Here is the tape pinned in place 5 inches from my ends so it will have a floppy edge. You can stitch it to the ends if you don't want the floppy edge. I tucked the end of the tape in the bottom hem and folded it over. Then stitch it up! Take out your pins!

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

A gilded french bed dressed in lilac bed linens
and a Ralph Lauren floral comforter sitting on a seagrass rug.
A large rustic wicker hamper basket at the foot of the bed mixing
with the elegant gilt bed is an example
of how to get the french country look~
mix the rustic with the refined.

I received an email from Houzz telling
me that some of my work was being
featured in their cover page article called

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